Permutation lock for automobiles



Feb. 6, 1923. 4 1,444,640

J. T. POWERS PERMUTATION LOOK FOR AUTOMOBILES F l d J n- 14, 1922 4 f m Patented Feb. 6, 1923.

JOHN T. rownas, on DENVER, coronnno, r .ssIeno n,.iaY arnsnnnssrenrrnnrs, TO THE COMBINATION Loci: coraranr, or nnnvnn, cononeno, a conronnrron or COLORADO.

Application filed January 14, 1922.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN T. Powers, a

city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have mvented certain new and useiul- Improvements in Permutation Looks for Automobiles; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to permutation locks and has special reference to a lock adapted to be applied to the gear shift le er of an automobile for the purpose of locking the lever in neutral position.

It has been found from experience that unless an automobile is provided with an effective lock, it is liable to be stolen by persons who make a business of stealing and selling cars, or by young and thoughtless persons who desire to use it for a short time, after which they abandon it in some out-of-the-way place where it is liable to be stolen by a professional thief.

In order to guard against theft, locks of a great many different types have been invented and offered for sale. Experience has proven that a successful lock should be so applied to a car that the latter can be moved, as it often becomes necessary in a city to move a car some short distance, as in the case of afire nearby or in order that other cars parked to the front or the rear may be moved.

I will not attempt to enumerate the many different types of locks and locking systems that have been tried, as their numbers are very great.

It is the object of this invention to pro duce a lock that can be applied to the gear shift lever of an automobile. and he so de signed that it will lock the same in ueutrai position. With the gear shift lever locked in neutral position, it is evident that the car cannot be driven by its own power as the engine cannot be coupled to the driving mechanism; at the same time the car can be moved in case of fire or if for any other reason this should be made necessary.

It is the further object of this invention to produce a lock that can be applied to any PER/MUTATION LOOK FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Serial No. 529,140.

of the cars which are provided with a gear shift lever without necessitating any material change in the lever structure or construction, and it is a still further object of this invention to produce alock that can'be used for other purposes as well as for lock ingithe gear shift lever. s

In order to more clearly describe my invention, I shall have reference to the ac companying' drawing in which Fig.1 is an elevation of an ordinarygear shift lever showing my lock in place thereon, a part of the lock being broken away to more clearly show the lock structure;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my lock and shows the arrangement of the locking tumblers and lock plunger;

Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse section of my lock showing it applied to a gear shift lever, a portion of the latter being broken away to show the plungerin locl ring'position; I

.l ig. it is a section on line 4.-4-, Fig, 2, showing the lock applied to an H-slot gear shifting mechanism; i

Fig. 5 is a view of the lock taken on line 5-5, Fig. 3; and

Fig. (5 is a top View of my lock.

The same reference numerals willbe used to indicate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.

Numeral 1 indicates a lever which is used for the purpose of shifting the-transmission gears, and which I shall refer to hereinafter as the gear shift lever, and 2 is a housing is bolted to the transmission gear casing (not shown). Housing 2 is usually provided with an upwardly extending flange 3. -The gears are so arranged that when lever 1 occupies a vertical position the gears are inoperable, and this position is therefore referred to as the neutral position. It is evident that if a means is provided whereby lever 1v can be positively locked in the neutral position, thecar will thereby be secured against operation by means of its own power. in order to be able at will. to lock the gear shift lever in its neutral position, I have invented the lock which forms the subject of this application, and which consists of a body member a whose lower end 5 is circular in shape and provided with an it may be turned.

axial opening 6 whose lower end is in creased in diameter as indicated at and The upper end of body member at is flattened and has its flanges 9 inclined so as to make a dove-tail shaped slot 10 which is adapted to receive the member 11 which carries the locking elements. Member d is applied to the gear shift lever in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Located within the enlarged openings 7 and 8 is a spring 12 which is under compression when the lock occupies the locking position and serves to move the lock against the pin 13 when the locking bolt 1a is withdrawn from the socket 15. A second socket 16 is provided for the reception of the plunger 14 when the lock occupies its uppermost or unlocking position. Member 11 is substantially rectangular in shape and has two parallel inclined sides 17 which have sliding engagement withthe inclined sides 10 of flanges 9. Substantially centrally of member 11 is an outwardly projecting tubular projection 18, within which is slidably and rotatably mounted a plunger 1 1, the outer end of which is of less diameter than the inner end and is surrounded by a spring 19 which abuts against the shoulder 20 of the plunger and the flange 21 of tubular member 13, and serves to bias the plunger towards its inner most position.

A knurled head 22 is secured to the outer end of the plunger 1% and serves as a convenient means for moving the same against the tension of the spring 19 and also acts as a stop to limit the inward movement of the plunger. Plunger 1 1 is provided with an annular groove 23 near its inner end for a purpose to be hereinafter described. Spaced substantially equidistantly from the center of the opening in the tubular member 18 are three holes 2% whose inner ends are counterbored to provide three openings 25, 26 and 27 of different diameters and of varying depth. Located within each opening 25 is a cylindrical tumbler 28 having a cylindrical portion-29 of reduced diameter, which extends through the opening 24s and terminates in a knurled knob 30 by which Tumblers 28 are longitudinally corrugated as indicated by numeral 31. Opening into the side of each opening 25 is a round hole 32 within which is a ball 33 which is biased toward the sides of tumblers 28 by means of a spring 3 1-. Ball 33 serves to produce a faint click as the tumblers rotate and also to prevent them from rotating of their own accord due to vibration. Within the opening 26 is a pin which cooperates with pin 36 on tumblers 28 to produce a stop by which the zero position of the tumblers may be determined. Within the opening 27, 1 place a washer 37, the central hole of which is out so as to conform to the shape of the cylinders28. Each washer 3'? has an arcuate notch 38 of such shape that when the lock is in its unlocked position the three notches cooperate and r m an opening oi such size that the bolt may freely reciprocate therein. When either one of washers 37 occupy any other position than that described above as the unlocked position, the edge or the washer will project into the annular groove 23 in the plunger 14 in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and prevent the bolt from being wi th drawn.

The combination of the lock is set and changed in the; following manner: With he member 11 removed from its slot in member 4;, the tumblers are all rotated in a clockwise direction until pin 36 S'tllkBS stop 35. Tumbler A 18 then rotated in a counterclockwise direction for as many notches as esired for example one. The disc 37 is then in place with notch 38 embracing lunger 1 1. Tumbler B is then rotated the sliced number of notches, for example two, and the disc 37 applied thereto. luinbler C is then rotated for example three notches, and the disc applied thereto in the same manner as with tumblers A and C. It will thus be seen that the combination at which the lock opens is 1, 2, 3, and can be arraiged to suit the taste of the owner. When the lock is to be locked, the tumblers are moved an desired number of notches so that the edges of washers 37 may engage in slot 23. To open the lock the tumblers are first turned in a clockwise direction until they are all in zero position; tumbler A is then moved one notch, tumbler B two notches, and tumbler C three notches, if the combination is 1, 2, 3. Either one of the three tumblers can be made to correspond to the first number of the combination, and three separate combinations can then be formed with 1, 2, 3 as the numbers thereof. Instead of rotating the tumblers clockwise to Zero and counter-clockwise to the unlocking position, the arrangement may be reversed which. would have the same effect as changing the combination. It is there fore evident that my lock possesses an almost endless variety of possible combinations. l Vhen the lock has been assembled and set to the desired combination, a thin plate 39 is then put in place on the back side member 11 and serves to hold the discs in place while the lock is put in place in the grooves of member 14. When the lock occupies the position shown in Fig. 3, the plunger 14: cooperates with socket 15 and holds the lock frame l: from upward moremenh thus preventing the gear shift lever 1 from being operated. It the discs are turned so that the edge of one or more L of them is in the annular groove 34. it is apparent that plunger 1 1 cannot be withdrawn irom the socket 15 and the lever 1 is therefore securely locked.- When it is desired to unlock the car, the tumblers A, B and (l are rotated to zero position and then set in accordance with the combination; plunger 14 can then be pulled outwardly and entirely removed from socket 15, after which the spring 12 will raise the lock upwardly against stop 13 in which position plunger 14; will engage socket 16 and hold the lock positively in the unlocking position so as to assure that it will not accidentally be shoved downwardly into locking position while the car is being operated. If the car is provided with a gear shift employing the ordinary H-slot shown in Fig. 4, then my lock is applied'to the lever 1 in exactly the same manner as it is applied with the type of lever shown in Fig. 1. The lower flange of member 5 is provided with two diametrically opposed slots 40 which permits the ends 41 to enter therein when the lock is in its lowermost on looking position, by which means it is apparent that the shift lever 1 becomes firmly locked in neutral position.

Although I have described my lock as applied to the gear shift lever of an automobile, it can be employed in many other different relations, and I contemplate employing it for locking the spare tire in place, for locking the garage or other doors, and for almost any purpose for which a lock can be employed. the specific use pointed out, but desire protection for my lock regardless of the use to which it is put. From the above description, it is evident that I have provided a simple but strong and efiicient lock of pleasing appearance, which can be applied to the gear shift lever of an automobile without a1- tering the construction of the latter to any appreciable degree, and which when so applied will effectively lock the gears in neutral position which prevents any unauthorized person from driving the car away under its own power. The car can, of course, be towed away, but it is not practicable to so look a car that a thief provided with the proper equipment and unmolested in his endeavors, cannot move a car from the position in which it is left by the owner. A car equipped with my lock is reasonably safe from being used by unauthorized persons and from being taken by a professional thief.

Having now described my invention or I do not intend to be limited to discovery, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is

1. A permutation lock adapted to be applied to a gear shift lever, comprising in combination, a'body member having an annular flange about its lower end; a pair of opposed inclined fiangesforming a passage for the reception of a lock member, a lock member, a bolt reciprocable in said lock member, and rotatable means for locking 4 said bolt against reciprocation.

2. A permutation lock adapted to be applied to a gear shift lever, comprising in combination, a body member having anannular flange about its lower end, a pair of opposed inclined flanges forming a passage for the reception of a lock member, a lock of said spring, and locking means for holding said plunger against movement in a predetermined position.

3. A permutation lock adapted to be shdably applied to a gear shift lever, comprising a body member having an annular fiange'at one end, a pair of opposed flanges having inclined sides at the other end, said flanges and sides forming a passageway for the reception of a locking member, a locking member slidably secured to said body member, said locking member being of considerable thickness and. substantially recltangular in shape, an outwardly projecting tubular member substantially central on said locking member, a plunger reciprocably mounted in said tubular member, a spring in said tubular member and cooperating with said plunger to hold the latter in a predetermined position, a plurality of tumblers about said plunger, a disc attached to each tumbler and cooperating with a groove in said plunger to lock the same in place, said discs eachhaving a notch, said tumblers having a portion of their sides corrugated, and a spring-pressed ,detent for cooperating with said corrugation.

in testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JQHN T. POWERS. 

